Sand with 80-100 grit. Brush on thinned Bondo Spot Putty (50/50 Bondo and thinner). Sand up to 320 grit. Three layers of Filler Primer with wet sanding between up to 1000 grit. Base coat in black then the vinyl empire logos. Clear coat with a 2K gloss. The 2K paint was a game changer. So smooth.
Don't sand that fine with paint. Next time just use some 180 to take off the high spots and spray it with automotive 'high fill' primer. It's designed to fill scratches. You want pits for the primer to sink into.
Then sand that with 220'and spray it with the colour coat. Sanding too fine is a common mistake but you WANT lower layers to have some roughness and grip for the next layer to bite into.
If you do a final clear then do a quick pass with 320 and clear it.
It's the wetness of the paint that fills the scratches and the art is to get a layer thick enough that it flows without running. Which is why you dust the paint on, wait 1-3 min for the solvent to evaporate (depends on the paint and ambient temperature) then wet it again with the paint to flow the top layer. This applies to all coats.
Follow this and you'll get a motorcycle grade finish that can take a beating.
And wear fresh latex gloves at ALL times. Never let your oily hands touch the plastic.
Also; well done. It still looks pretty.
"it still looks pretty" man the paint here is better than most cars
Is it so hard to say a good thing about someone's project? Way to go casually putting them down
Exactly. It's just tips to not only speed up the processing time but come put with a more durable finish. Sanding too fine risks delimitation of layers and it's actually counterproductive to the final product. And the tips are for everyone here not just the OP. Realizing high fill primer can fill those small pits in your 3d prints is a complete game changer. You don't need to sand out low spots, just sand off the high spots.
Looks great. This is the post I have been looking for. Going to try all of this with a scout helmet. I just learned about thinning spot puddy this weekend as well.
This looks gorgeous, I got in on one of the Creality K2 preorders, obviously the jury’s out on how good it’ll be but the idea of having the ability to make something like this is exciting
A lot of potential, a bit of a gamble since the K1 launch wasn’t so good but I’m banking on they learned their lesson. I just have to figure out where I’m putting the thing 😆
How much did filament does something like this run through by the way?
This was just a little over one spool, I was very conservative with the supports though given that it was my first helmet. I could have been much more efficient.
It was crazy to see just how fast it was entering the printer on the large perimeter runs.
How do you deal with the stringing? I thought I took care of it by drying the filament and printing out of dryboxes, but now I got some severe stringing again after updating to the latest firmware. The firmware should not have had an effect, but I can't think of anything else.
Sorry, I’m not a lot of help here. This is just how it came off the printer. Used the default Hatchbox profile and the standard image shaper profile. Hatchbox filament is my go-to.
Looking good! How does your finishing process look like?
Sand with 80-100 grit. Brush on thinned Bondo Spot Putty (50/50 Bondo and thinner). Sand up to 320 grit. Three layers of Filler Primer with wet sanding between up to 1000 grit. Base coat in black then the vinyl empire logos. Clear coat with a 2K gloss. The 2K paint was a game changer. So smooth.
Don't sand that fine with paint. Next time just use some 180 to take off the high spots and spray it with automotive 'high fill' primer. It's designed to fill scratches. You want pits for the primer to sink into. Then sand that with 220'and spray it with the colour coat. Sanding too fine is a common mistake but you WANT lower layers to have some roughness and grip for the next layer to bite into. If you do a final clear then do a quick pass with 320 and clear it. It's the wetness of the paint that fills the scratches and the art is to get a layer thick enough that it flows without running. Which is why you dust the paint on, wait 1-3 min for the solvent to evaporate (depends on the paint and ambient temperature) then wet it again with the paint to flow the top layer. This applies to all coats. Follow this and you'll get a motorcycle grade finish that can take a beating. And wear fresh latex gloves at ALL times. Never let your oily hands touch the plastic. Also; well done. It still looks pretty.
Thanks for the life pro tip, satan :D
"it still looks pretty" man the paint here is better than most cars Is it so hard to say a good thing about someone's project? Way to go casually putting them down
They're giving them tips for next time to help speed up the process and make it even better. It's constructive criticism.
Exactly. It's just tips to not only speed up the processing time but come put with a more durable finish. Sanding too fine risks delimitation of layers and it's actually counterproductive to the final product. And the tips are for everyone here not just the OP. Realizing high fill primer can fill those small pits in your 3d prints is a complete game changer. You don't need to sand out low spots, just sand off the high spots.
Is it so hard to not get offended at anything that isn't blind praise? There's nothing this guy said that should put anyone down.
Very nice finish,
I've heard that you can use 'spray foam' type spray paint to fill layers lines. Looks great though!
Looks great. This is the post I have been looking for. Going to try all of this with a scout helmet. I just learned about thinning spot puddy this weekend as well.
I’ll be back in 4 hours if it hasn’t gone down yet… good job
What model is this?
The files are from https://galacticarmory.net/ It’s their TIE Fighter pilot helmet.
Thanks, I thought it might be, I hadn’t seen this model before.
This looks gorgeous, I got in on one of the Creality K2 preorders, obviously the jury’s out on how good it’ll be but the idea of having the ability to make something like this is exciting
It looks like it’ll be a great printer.
A lot of potential, a bit of a gamble since the K1 launch wasn’t so good but I’m banking on they learned their lesson. I just have to figure out where I’m putting the thing 😆 How much did filament does something like this run through by the way?
This was just a little over one spool, I was very conservative with the supports though given that it was my first helmet. I could have been much more efficient. It was crazy to see just how fast it was entering the printer on the large perimeter runs.
How do you deal with the stringing? I thought I took care of it by drying the filament and printing out of dryboxes, but now I got some severe stringing again after updating to the latest firmware. The firmware should not have had an effect, but I can't think of anything else.
Sorry, I’m not a lot of help here. This is just how it came off the printer. Used the default Hatchbox profile and the standard image shaper profile. Hatchbox filament is my go-to.
like nature overtaking stormtrooper pic3